Beijing tourist spot reopens two months after brutal murder

BEIJING (AFP) — The Drum Tower, a popular tourist spot in Beijing, has reopened with extra security two months after an American was murdered there during the Olympics, an employee said Wednesday.

“We have re-opened… now, extra security measures are in place,” the Drum Tower employee, who refused to be named, told AFP.

Tang Yongming, a 47-year-old Chinese man, stabbed to death Todd Bachman — the father-in-law of the US Olympic volleyball coach — at the Drum Tower in Beijing on August 9, one day after the Olympics opening ceremony.

He also attacked Bachman’s wife, who was left seriously injured, before throwing himself off the tower and killing himself.

While the staff member did not detail the extra security, the Beijing Times newspaper said the number of security guards had been increased from 10 to 15.

The railings on the tower had also been made higher “to protect tourists’ safety,” the paper said.

Visitors are also forbidden from walking round the top of the tower as they used to, but can now only stand at fixed spots.

Security guards will also check tourists for any dangerous objects, the report said.

Initially built in the 1200s and then rebuilt after fires, the Drum Tower and the nearby Bell Tower were used to tell city residents the time.